InsaneJournal

It had been one long week, one long month for that matter. Draco was lost in thought and he eventually settled himself into an alcove somewhere up on the seventh floor. He didn't quite know where he was, but it didn't matter too much. Hogwarts wasn't that huge of a place, anyway. Draco just sat down where he was and allowed the thoughts to just pour out over him. It was one way to clear his mind of all of his worries and broodings, at any rate, if there were no other way for Draco to accomplish this task.

Hannah had found herself a nice little alcove on the seventh floor for when she wanted to read. It was quiet, peaceful, and a little chilly... which was why she tended to bring a blanket with her. True, she could perform a warming charm, but there was something homey about a blanket that she liked being able to still grasp onto.

The little blonde made her way silently up the traveling staircases, book and blanket in hand, and blue eyes darting around to see if anyone was coming at any time. She hated to give away her position, after all. So imagine her surprise when she found someone already there. "Draco?"

The blond had barely heard someone coming, but he did glance up when he felt the presence of someone standing behind him. Turning round slowly, Draco replied quietly: "Yes?" He was silent and brooding, he knew. He didn't want to cause trouble, however. Noticing that it looked like Hannah seemed to want to sit here, the blond frowned thoughtfully. "I can find some place else to think, if you'd fancy staying here." He flushed just a little, his tone distracted as Draco was clearly involved in his own mind.

The Hufflepuff shook her head. "It's alright. I just wasn't expecting to find anyone here. I'm just as comfortable on the floor," she replied with a smile. Draco seemed deep in thought anyway. "Or I could find a completely different spot and leave you to whatever it was you were doing. What were you doing, out of curiosity."

Flushing still, Draco shifted his position so he could look back over at Hannah. "I..." he stammered awkwardly, then added lamely: "Just thinking. About everything again." Draco smiled tiredly, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. "About how we've all changed everything already and what that means for our futures."

"I'm not sure. I still haven't spoken to my parents," she chuckled, scratching the back of her neck. "May I?" Hannah motioned to the bench he was sitting on, wondering if she could sit beside him. Maybe he could use someone to rant to. "If you feel the need to rant, I've got a free ear."

The blond froze at the offer, but he did nod to give her permission to take a seat beside him. "I....I normally don't rant..." Draco murmured quietly, lowering his gaze. He was acting oddly shy, uncharacteristically shy, around Hannah. There was just something about her that told Draco not to hurt her.

"Everybody rants," she laughed. "The question is how. I've known people who rant silently to themselves and people who scream at everyone else. You just kind of have to find a happy medium. And usually that comes with a second person whose willing to listen."

Draco closed his eyes wearily, shaking his head. "I never ranted aloud. It was always in my mind. I couldn't trust anyone else with the knowledge that I have. My...too many lives would have been at stake had they known." Draco smiled, looking back at Hannah. "So forgive me if I don't really know how to do this."

"All you have to do is open your mind and mouth. Pretend you're griping at your reflection," she laughed. As if to help him, Hannah put on a mock sneer, mainly to lighten the mood.

He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Hannah attempting to sneer. A grin fell over Draco's lips then. "Well, you do at least have blonde hair, so it almost works as a reflection."

"I could never get that sneer down. I guess I'm too much of a Hufflepuff at heart. Best I can do is this," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him, "and toss some nasty curses at you."

Laughing cheerfully at that, he smiled handsomly in response. "Well, they're some brilliant nasty curses that you and the Gryffindors can come up with, to be honest." He paused for a moment, still not quite ready to broach the topic of what he'd been pondering.

"I at least got you to laugh," she replied, proud of herself. She'd heard it was somewhat difficult unless he was doing something mean. But since they'd gotten here, she hadn't seen him be mean at all. "So, you ready to talk yet or do I have to butter you up some more?"

"Ah. I'm always up for some good fashioned buttering up," Draco actually said the sentence with a straight face, then burst out into almost giddy laughter as he realized just how silly the sentence was. He could see the pride in Hannah's expression, but Draco didn't attempt to figure out why she was so happy.

"I kinda figured," Hannah chuckled. For a moment, she was comfortable in the silence that came next, finding herself braiding the hair that fell over her shoulder. "You're a really great Quidditch player, you know."

"Don't really deserve that compliment," Draco replied automatically, blinking once just afterward. "I was trained by a professional when I was four. Father wanted me on the Slytherin team ever since that age, so he made sure I could fly well enough to make the team." Draco ran a hand through his hair weakly. "I cheated my way into being talented at Quidditch, you could say. I didn't start when I was eleven like the rest of you."

"Some of them probably started before they were eleven too, ya know. Just having a professional trainer isn't everything. You couldn't do as well as you do without some natural talent, yes?"

"Perhaps. But I still practically bought my way onto the team." Draco shrugged a little. He closed his eyes for a moment, pondering the events that had happened since they'd come to this time a little more. "My father only got me on the team by paying for brand new brooms for the Slytherin team, and kicking their current Seeker out of his spot. That's not what everyone else was told what happened; that's the true story, though. I think my father offered the guy some kind of deal for dropping out of the team and letting me take his place."

"If you had it to do over again, knowing what you know now, would you?" Hannah questioned, setting her book aside and forgetting about it. She should have really known the second she saw him there that she wouldn't be opening it. Draco Malfoy was a much more interesting subject than whatever romance novel she'd picked up.

"Do it over again? I can't really change who...I don't know if I could change who I am because of who my parents are." Draco lowered his gaze slowly, closing his eyes now. "If I could do something to change the future and still be alive in it, I will. If I only have another five years before I...before I vanish, then it's five years where I get to live..." Draco flushed a little in embarrassment, opening his eyes once more to look back at her.

Hannah smiled softly. "I'm pretty sure that's alone the same lines as everyone else's thoughts. My own, included. There's plenty of fears to look at, but if you get stuck on them, they just take over. Even if I disappear tomorrow, at least I'll know I didn't dwell on it, right?"

"I suppose." Draco frowned thoughtfully, the notion of disappearing tomorrow hitting him directly then. "Tomorrow?" he whispered quietly. "We all should be fine until the date of our conceptions, or when they should have been." Draco lowered his eyes again. "I never would have thought like this back in our own time, though."

"We didn't have a reason to," Hannah rationalized. "Is that what you were thinking about?"

"Mostly," Draco returned quietly. "Just...how much we've all changed since being here, myself in particular. I never would have spoken to you or even given you a second glance in our own time."

"Then you'd have missed out on a pretty cool chick, huh?" she questioned, teasing him a little. Hannah wasn't the conceited type, and in fact, thought herself rather dull in comparison to girls like Pansy Parkinson and Ginny Weasley. But she was trying to cheer him up.

Not missing a beat, Draco smiled charmingly back at her and returned sincerely: "Yeah, I would have." He winked once, stretching out just a little. Draco really didn't know what else to do, but he really didn't think that he was ready to just rant to her now.

And that was just fine. Hannah didn't like pushing people, mainly because she didn'tl ike being pushed herself. "So when did you find this place? I didn't think anyone else had."

"Honestly? I was just wandering aimlessly and happened upon it. Is...is it your, um, special area I guess?" Draco fished for the right words, smiling weakly back at Hannah.

"Not really. Just a spot to get away sometimes. It is public, so you're more than welcome to come here anytime you want. And even if it weren't, I'd still say you were allowed," Hannah chuckled, softly. "I trust that you wouldn't give the spot away, after all. Especially if you're doing your thinking here."

Draco grinned at that. "I'll keep it secret, then," he returned with a wink, a smile on his lips at that. "Is...is there anyone you miss from our time, Hannah? I just...I can't help but feel guilty that here we are, getting along surprisingly well, when in our own time, our friends would likely tear each other apart if they ever thought we conspired with each other."

"I feel plenty guilty," Hannah replied, "but not for that. No one should ever feel bad for making new friends. I feel guilty because I couldn't save Justin." Her eyes watered up a little, and a single tear fell, but she sniffed and wiped it away. "I'm getting girly. Don't mind me. Do you miss anyone?"

"Justin..." Draco repeated the name, recalling a face but really nothing more. "I do miss Gregory, but Slytherins...we weren't really all that close to each other. Maybe my mum, as she was to me. Here she can't be like that to me right now." Draco sighed, shrugging lightly.

"Yeah. Its strange, honestly, seeing my dad in his prime. He's gorgeous, I can see why my mother fell for him like she did. Its nice to, seeing them both alive and happy. Back home, my mom was kind of just... going through the motions after my dad was killed."

Acting purely on instinct, Draco reached out slowly and rested one hand on her knee. "I'm sorry. I'm glad you at least get to see them here, sort of like Harry and his parents." Draco sighed softly. "Is it wrong of me to be jealous that the lot of you suffered yet I had this perfect, happy childhood where I was spoiled rotten and couldn't care less about anyone else?"

Hannah couldn't help the blush that rose in her cheeks at the gesture. Swallowing, she gave her head a slight shake. "Not at all. I mean, we suffered, but we were loved. I'm sure you're mother loved you, but the way everyone describes your father... the way you describe him, I don't think you got the same things we did. Even though you were much more well-off than we were. But, here, in this time, you've got us. It's just one more thing you didn't have then, right?"

Finally. Someone didn't belittle him because of his...odd statement. Smiling gently, relieved that Hannah seemed to accept that as the truth, Draco replied softly: "I highly doubt I did, but how fucked up I've become lately. You all suffered, and I didn't...so I'm still separated from everybody just because of that." Draco sighed lightly.

"Not really. You suffered, just not in the same way," Hannah rationalized. "Our parents, they died. Yours... well, I'm not trying to mean, but they might as well have. And then, well, we all got shoved back in time."

Hannah was seemingly telling Draco just everything that he'd wanted to ever hear from someone. Acting on pure instinct now, the blond scooted and wrapped his arm around Hannah's shoulder as affectionately as he possibly knew how. "I...thank you, really. I can't tell you how many people have looked at me like I'm nutters for saying anything along those lines."

Hannah chuckled, softly and wrapped both arms around his neck in a hug. "In all honesty, Draco, everyone is nutters in some way, shape or form. If you'd told me I'd be shoved back in time during the final battle, I'd have looked at you like you were nuts and then probably hexed you. But here we are. We just have to make the best of it."

Grinning lightly at her reassurance, Draco held onto her for another moment before lowering his arms, but he didn't quite shift away from her just yet. "Yeah, I suppose that we do." He really didn't know what else to say to that statement. This was uncharted territory for Draco.

"You feel any better?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and canting her head to the left slightly.

Draco tilted his head thoughtfully, then smiled in response. "You know, I actually do." He grinned gently. "Didn't think I'd ever benefit from...a chat like this, but it seems I have."

Wrinkling her nose up slightly as she grinned, Hannah nodded. "Good. I'm glad. You shouldn't be stalking around here sneering all the time. You're much more attractive when you smile."

Unable to prevent it, Draco actually blushed a bright red at that comment and he lowered his gaze anxiously. What the hell was wrong with him? It was just a flirt...he knew how to handle those situations without a second thought normally! Who was he and what had he done with Draco Malfoy?

Hannah blinked, and then another grin spread across her face slowly as she ducked down to look at him. "Are you blushing?"

"I think I am," murmured Draco weakly, one hand rising to his pale cheek in desperate attempt to cover up the bright red of it. "Can't say I've ever blushed before, not like this."

"I'll stop. Most guys don't really like to blush... although I don't think I've ever made one do that. Usually its the other way around."

"I...you don't have to stop. This...it's just new, that's all. I'm not one to blush at a...well, a statement like that." Draco couldn't even call it a flat-out flirt to her face. What the hell was wrong with him, really?

"In all honesty, it's all very new for me. I'm trying to put myself out there so I don't end up as some recluse."

Chuckling lightly, Draco nudged her playfully. "Someone as pretty and smart as you? Never." That was known territory to Draco. That part he could handle.

And then it was Hannah's turn to blush. Her turn to duck her head, letting her hair hide her face.

Smirking lightly, Draco nudged her again. "Now we're blushing together, how bout that?" he joked teasingly, keeping his voice light and cheery as he spoke.

"How 'bout that," she echoed, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear and glance at him with a smile. "So... I was wondering..." Hannah's top row of teeth caught her bottom lip nervously, then she sighed. "Have you been working on anything? I mean, I know we were sent back for a reason, I just... I hate being out of the loop when something as important as this is happening."

"Working on anything? I think...we were, but we---Harry and I---both became sidetracked a little when his parents found out. I think most of Harry's spare time now is being spent spending time with his parents and his godfather, which I don't blame him for one bit, really." Draco shrugged indifferently.

Hannah nodded. "You need any help with anything? I might not be the golden child, but I'm not all thumbs either," she replied, offering up her services for anything he might need them for. "And I could probably get into places you couldn't, seeing as how I'm a girl."

Smiling a little, Draco shook his head at the moment. "I...we don't have much right now, but we can always use an extra mind to help us think," Draco returned lightly, adding shyly: "especially a beautiful one like yours." And it promptly sent him blushing again.

As it did the same to her, she sighed and leaned back. "We're a right pair of nuts, aren't we?" she chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. Draco seemed to be blushing as much as she was, and somewhere in her mind, she knew his buddies back in their time probably would have smacked him around for it.

"Yeah, I'd say we are." Draco would have said that Hannah was absolutely right. All the Slytherins would be mocking him senselessly for blushing like this, but Draco didn't really care much. He was enjoying it, for a change.

"You know, if we were back in our time, if we ever make it back, I think I mighth ave to show you some things. Muggle things. Movies and their music and little things here and there. I think you'd like some of it," Hannah stated out of the blue, eyes closing as she settled against the wall comfortably.

Draco stiffened a little at the mere thought of him learning Muggle things, but he knew she meant no harm by it. "I may. I...is there anything you know of here?" he questioned softly, wondering just how much the Muggle timeline had changed.

"I don't know," she replied, a tone of curiosity creeping into her voice. "I could probably look into it. Find something. Take you to Muggle London over the hols or something so you could see for yourself."

"I'd like that, actually. In our own time, for me to even be looking at Muggle anything would be...the greatest sin I could possibly make." Draco shrugged again, a curious expression on his features. "Maybe you could just tell me about some of the things you know, then, yeah?"

"We could be here for hours," she laughed. "Just on my favorite movies, alone. And the music too. I use to listen to things from the 1920s on to when we were living. And the books, some of the fantasy ones that were about witches and vampires... they romanticise their vampires. Make them these seductive creatures that just... guh." When she realized she'd gotten on a subject that was definitely not something she wanted to be talking about in front of him, her cheeks colored once more and she licked her lips. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I'll gladly listen to everything you've to say, Hannah. I think it's...well, it's brilliant, to be honest. I never would have gotten away with saying such a thing in our own time but...Muggles almost fascinate me, especially when we consider how they're doing everything they do without magical assistance and all." Draco smiled lightly, leaning back against the wall more comfortably now.

"Electricity itself is something that would probably amaze me if I weren't Muggle-born, you know? I mean, they have to be as brilliant as wizards on some level to be able to think up different ways to invent everything they've invented."

"Elec...what?" Draco repeated the word, tilting his head to one side curiously. He'd honestly never heard the word before, but he was curious now as to what it was.

"Electricity. We don't use candles and Lumos spells and the like. We actually have this kind of wiring in the walls, you flip a switch and there's this bulb that lights up. Goes off and on with the flick of a switch. I definitely have to take you to a Muggle place and show you," Hannah chuckled.

"Seriously? I think I'd have to see it in order to actually believe it," Draco admitted honestly, laughing softly. "It just doesn't sound like something that could be real."

"Yeah well, if we weren't living it, neither would this," Hannah replied with a shrug.

"I suppose that's true," Draco admitted again, smiling lightly at that. "You've got quite a head on your shoulders, you know.What...what were you thinking of doing, in our time? As your career and such?"

"I wanted to be a photographer. My dad had this camera, I picked it up not long after he died and just started taking pictures of everything. Muggle and Wizard alike. I like the Muggle style most, I think. The pictures don't move. It's a single moment in time, captured forever and it allows you to imagine what was happening instead of actually seeing it, you know? I saw a camera like his in Hogsmeade not too long ago, I just didn't have enough to afford it." Tucking her hair behind her ear, she glanced at him. "What about you?"

Draco smiled lightly at the thought of Hannah becoming a photographer. "I think that would suit you well, really. My dream job? It would have been a potions master. It's such a difficult art, but I enjoyed it almost as much as Severus. He's my godfather, you know." Draco didn't know why he added that last part, but it just seemed right.

"I didn't know that. He offered to help me sleep, when I was still having nightmares. Fix me a sleeping draught. He caught Theodore and I in the Dungeons one night. He still scares me a little," she admitted.

The blond chuckled at that one. "Yeah, Sev likes to terrify people, at least the one in our time does. He likes to push people's buttons. But once you get closer to him,he's really not all that scary."

"I don't think he'd fancy getting close to a Hufflepuff he didn't know," she chuckled. "Especially one as jumpy as I was. But its nice to know he's not all bad."

"Just don't tell him I said that, if you ever see that Severus again." Draco chuckled in amusement. "He'd kill me for saying anything."

"We can't hve that," she laughed. "That would just be horrible. Who would I make blush?"

As if on cue, Draco blushed lightly again, laughing nervously. "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure Vincent would make an easy target."

Oh gosh, no. Please, don't subject me to Vincent Crabbe. I highly doubt he's of the same mindframe as you are when it comes to people like me," she chuckled.

"Hey now. Vince is my friend, after all," Draco retorted playfully, automatically. "But it's good to see you think so highly of me."

"Well, you've proven yourself much smarter than most take you for. And much more open minded. So yes, I hold you in pretty high regards," Hannah admitted. She left out the fact that she didn't really speak to Harry Potter or anyone else, aside from Susan and Neville.

Draco flushed again, but he was honestly pleased with her critique of him. "The open mindedness has always been there, it was just never safe for me to let it shine through back in our time," he defended himself almost instantly.

Hannah nodded. "Which is the main reason I'm surprised no one really saw your suffering as well as our own. Myself included. Usually I'm much more open about things like that... but its clear that I had just as many faults as everyone else when it came to most Slytherins."

"We do kind of make a name for ourselves in our own time, yeah?" Draco returned lightly, shrugging. "And in our time, sadly, most of what they say about Slytherins is one hundred percent true. At least here, the preconceptions don't seem to be in place yet."

"I'm fairly certain the preconceptions fell into place around the time that The Dark Lord came into more power. So it should be rather soon. I don't like it."

Draco shifted closer to her, wrapping one arm lightly around her shoulders again. "I don't like it either, to be honest, but we at least know what's coming."

The little Hufflepuff leaned into him, laying her head on his shoulder. "We're a little more prepared this time, yeah? We can stop him?" She was asking him, really. She wanted his opinion on the subject at hand... it would certainly sway her feelings towards the subject. If Draco thought they could win this time, then she could be more adamant that it would.

"I think we'll do everything we know how to do," Draco murmured quietly, hugging her closer to him a bit more naturally. "I think we've a brilliant shot at winning this war, though it does feel odd to include myself in that we."

"It shouldn't be. You've tried to prove yourself to everyone, and Hermione and Harry seem to trust you. Neville... well, he'll come around, I'm sure. And the rest don't seem as antsy towards you as they did in our time," Hannah replied with a shrug. She always tried to see the bright side. An optimist to the fullest, even in the face of tragedy.

"I can only hope you're right about that," Draco returned quietly, but he still didn't move from Hannah's side. "I can't blame Neville for hating me. After what my aunt did, then what I did during the battle to him...I don't expect him to come around for a long while yet, to be honest."

"Well, you never know. He might surprise you. You surprised a lot of people," Hannah pointedout.

"Touche," Draco returned lightly, smiling again. He stretched his legs out a little, not wanting to end their little impromptu get together, but knowing that he probably shouldn't stay here much longer.

Hannah only smiled. "So... what are your plans for now? In case we don't get to go back? Do you still want to be a Potions Master?"

"I'd still like to, yes. It may be a bit more difficult to make a name for myself here, but I will eventually, I hope. If I survive five years into the future, that is." Draco shrugged. "I'm trying not to think too much on the future right now, to be honest."

Hannah nodded. "Sometimes I don't know whether to think about just right now or whether to think about the future. Back in our time, the future was something I thought about all the time. Now, well, we all know there may not be one for us. But still. We've got now and we've got each other. Though, sometimes, I'd like to chuck something at them."

Laughing a bit at that, Draco couldn't help but agree to everything. "Well, I'm almost positive they'll be one for the rest of you. But for Pansy, Vincent and I? Maybe not so much. An easy fix is by making sure our parents don't live..." Draco shrugged lightly.

Hannah swallowed. "Maybe... maybe you could just talk to them. I mean, your dad... he was a force to be reckoned with. Imagine if you were able to turn that towards our side," Hannah pointed out, definitely not ready to entertain the thought of losing her new friend.

Draco smirked lightly, wistfully. "We'd've had to go back farther than now to change my father's course, Hannah. He did marry into the Black family, after all." Draco shrugged distractedly.

"So. All of the Blacks weren't horrible, right? If we were to try hard enough, maybe we could," she replied with a shrug, closing her eyes and breathing him in. "Nothing's impossible."

"Only a few weren't," Draco murmured softly. "The ones who you're talking about changing will never change. My father won't, I can guarantee that much. Not this late in his life."

"There's got to be a way," she replied, softly. "I mean, what if... how powerful was he after you were born? Is there a chance we could take him then? Cement your birth and then put you with someone else?"

"He...he's practically at the height of his power now," Draco whispered, lowering his gaze sadly. "There's the chance that I could be...kidnapped, so to speak. This was the time when the Death Eater meetings started to rise. Father apparently was constantly gone at them, and Mum was either left alone with me or a house elf took care of me. It would be the easiest time to steal me away, if any."

Hannah lifted her head, eyes bright with optimism and mischief. "You think we could? Maybe enlist the help of people we knew for a fact would? Think about it! You could be a deciding factor in the war, Draco. With you and Harry standing side by side... Dark Lord or no Dark Lord, could you imagine the power behind the two of you alone?"

"Hannah..." Draco whispered dangerously, his eyes lighting up at the mere idea of the power that that kind of role would bring him. "You don't want to go about putting that kind of power in my head," he warned quietly, already almost giddy with the knowledge that it would be him and Harry at the end of things.

"Why not? You've proven its already there. Its just waiting to be tapped. If you were raised by someone other than your dad, can you imagine the good you could do on your own?" Hannah questioned, feeling the rush of adrenaline as she became just that much more excited.

"But...what about Harry? Would his parents let him...grow up to become as he is now?" Draco questioned, needing to determine all the factors in this before making a decision one way or another.

"I don't know. I honestly don't. I mean, I'm sure its one of those things that would have to be discussed with everyone, but unless your father had something to do with Harry's parents deaths, I don't see how that would change. It'd be a completely separate detail in the Dark Lord's list, wouldn't it?"

"I'm just worried about the damage my father might do once I'm missing. Would he care if I'm gone, or would he and Mum just try to find a way to make another heir?" Draco murmured skeptically, pondering the options.

"Well, think about he's treated you. What do you think he'd do? No one but The Dark Lord knows him better than you and your mother, right?" she asked, curiously.

"Aye, he does. I imagine Father would just greive for a short while, then try for another heir. But even I can't know for certain, and I wouldn't want to bank the future on that."

"No one knows anything for certain, Draco. Every step we take has changed things in the future. We don't even know that the Dark Lord will attack at the same time," Hannah reminded him.

That's right. They didn't. So many things about this time line were different with just their mere arrival...Draco hesitated, paling a little. "You're right. We don't. Just how much have we changed by arriving here?"

"I'm not sure. I've made sure I haven't spoken to my parents, but people like Neville and Harry, they deserve to know them. And maybe that knowledge will help us in the end. But its life. You can never be sure about it. You take it as it comes and hope like hell you've got people to share it with."